Damon Runyon Researchers

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Roberto Zoncu, PhD

Cancer cell metabolism differs from that of healthy cells because cancer cells have extreme requirements for energy. An organelle inside the cell called the lysosome has recently been defined as a “metabolic signaling center,” which senses cellular nutrient levels and communicates them to a growth regulator protein called mTORC1. Dr. Zoncu proposes to synthesize novel molecules that can specifically disable the lysosomal-mTORC1 signaling pathway as a new means of starving cancer cells and thus blocking tumor growth. He will investigate how this pathway controls the function of the lysosome and another organelle, the mitochondria, in mediating the resilience of cancer cells to challenges such as starvation, hypoxia and chemotherapeutic drugs. This research may impact all cancer types, but particularly pancreatic and lung cancers, which appear to be uniquely sensitive to levels of mTORC1.